Pauper (All common)

EDIT: In the end I cut the Probes, replaced them with Brainstorm and put Bonesplitter there instead of one Mutagenic Growth.

One of the things I like about Magic is the fact that with commons and uncommons one can experience a lot of fun. Be it in limited format or constructed one. This is the thing that I personally think that keeps the game alive - it is the design of Magic: The Gathering. The commons are designed in a unique way. For most players most commons are just trash. But the importance of commons is actually pretty high. Ever played World of Warcraft TCG? In WoW TCG it was impossible to build a deck out of commons or uncommons. Just looking at the commons from one set one couldn't really say from what set they came. Most of the commons do not use the set's abilities and are unplayable in most formats (even limited). WoWTCG suffered also from a huge power creep. A common from Heroes of Azeroth (first set) is no match for a common from another set (be it uncommon or rare whatever). The differences are so huge that if one builds a deck from the last block nothing can most probably stop him (given as an example). In Magic though the power creep is held at certain level. There are overpowered cards that are very old and WotC won't most probably print anything stronger. The power level of cards changes in Magic. In the old days there were very strong noncreature cards and now it is vice versa. But still older cards can fight the new ones. As for the commons...commons are pillars of a building. They communicate the set's flavor and mechanics. This is the reason why playing with such cards is fun and the card interactions are good. It also means that some cards are too powerful for a common slot and then are printed as uncommon or even rare.

The only three damage I dealt to my opponent^_^. (He played 3x Snuff Out, 2x Sign in Blood, Phyrexian Rager.) That is how one wins games he/she should not win^_^

Pauper decks if built competitively are very efficient and usually quite fun to play. I certainly had a lots of fun with my pauper decks be it in pauper environment or at regular constructed environment (pre-planeswalker era). There are many card interactions and synergies and one needs to know how to play his or her deck. Even some type two decks were quite difficult to pilot. It is not as simple as one might think to play this format (speaking about legacy all common mainly) and it certainly is faster than most people think (or at least those I encountered). Many players tell me that they won't play pauper because the format is slow. I don't really know from where they got this impression. Games on MODO that I play I usually finish in 3 minutes. Yes, it certainly depends on the deck but in most cases the games are pretty fast at least compared to Legacy, Modern, Standard...It was in Pauper that I for the very first time played a deck with 16 lands. I never thought this possible in any format in Magic for years but the formats accelerated so much that it is possible even in (normal) legacy. This certainly does not show that the format is slow. Actually due to power level of the cards being limited there won't be too many large swings. There is no Wrath of God to restart the game (or completely kill an aggro deck). That is also why any misplay has way higher impact on the game compared to normal constructed formats and that is something I like as well. One needs to treasure his/her own creatures and use each card the best way he or she can. There is no Bloodbraid Elf to save the day or Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

The format (obviously) favors aggressive decks because there are no global removal spells even Pyroclasm is an uncommon. But each type of deck can be build. I used to play mono blue faeries that was more control than tempo. Even though nowadays it is vice versa (Delver of Secrets? Oh yeah...why not). I used to encounter Storm all the time because it was the best deck one could come up with. Affinity was a killer, insanely fast deck. And there was no Nature's Claim for Cranial Plating (not that much decks could play it).

From time to time I took my pauper deck and played with it at regular event. When Zoo, Scapeshift and Thopter/Depths was around I used to play with my Counter/Burn pauper deck. It consisted of Counterspells, Burn (as the name suggests) and Errant Ephemeron as a finisher (I admit I did not use my pauper sideboard because that was against affinity and storm). This deck was actually slow but Zoo was a bye and any combo deck died to my Rune Snags and Counterspells the same way it would die to Cryptic Command and Remand and it was my deck running more disruption and some bounce spells. The looks on my opponents' faces when I suspended or played Errant Ephemeron were priceless. That was usually the moment when the players started to understand that my deck is build from commons only. Those were really fun times.

Why I actually write this post you ask me? Well. When I opened MODO after several years of not playing on it I did not have any cards in my collection that would be worth a competitive deck. But I could put together a deck out of commons and uncommons. Turn 2 Hooting Mandrills was actually quite ok. When doing this I remembered the times when some new players came to me asking for help about their decks and being on budget. The easiest way usually was to build a pauper deck because such deck is inexpensive. In the school's environment any deck that is solid even using commons is better than a not solid deck build out of rares and piloted by not so good player. The pauper decks also need some kind of skill and also teach a player all the 'mechanics' there are in magic (with this I mean card draw/advantage, removal, pump effects, counterspells etc.). I think one can learn a lot by playing with all commons deck or simply playing limited but that is way more expensive than a pauper deck.

Lately some completely random players (beginners) asked me to play with them (why me?). I wasn't prepared for that and I usually have Legacy decks with me. I usually ended up explaining what Tasigur and Young Pyromancer does. Cards like Daze, Force of Will, Delver of Secrets, Ponder and Brainstorm were easy to explain. I realized that most cards I did not need to comment much on are mostly commons with the exception of Force of Will. But rares and uncommon cards are a bit more complicated. At that time I realized how well commons are designed. They are simple to understand but sometimes difficult to master but that is not someone needs to understand when he or she begins to play the game. He or she still needs to discover how the game works and if one does not understand how a card works it is a problem. Commons are easy to comprehend and usually have simple (1 for 1) effects. Uncommons and Rares become really tricky and their interaction with board, other cards are way more complex. A beginner needs to focus on simple things and card advantage for most is something completely incomprehensible (even for more experienced players). No matter what I think that starting with pauper is a good start how to learn/teach magic but on the other hand this format is played at competitive level and it is very tense and the format has its own banlist. In Modern Kor Skyfisher is banned along with Cloudpost. In legacy the list is longer (check it yourself if interested). Among those are cards like Invigorate, Cranial Plating, Grapeshot and Empty the Warrens, Cloudpost and now effective from 1st of April Treasure Cruise. Treasure Cruise is just an insane card and started to be played anywhere (in Boros Aggro for example^_^). Mana fixation was always here but 'dual' lands at common slot were scarce. Guildgates helped a ton but now we have even better lands from Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged. No more need to play Karoo lands that I used to play in Wee Dragonauts deck.

Now with Infect, Post and Storm deck not being uber good there is a field that is quite healthy and fun even though some cards are starting to be annoying. So if you are up for a highly competitive, tense games and don't have the money for all the rares and mythics just try this. You might not like the format after you try it but if you don't try it you won't know that. I personally think that most people who always tell me that pauper is crap and never tried it would be actually pretty surprised. There are many types of decks from Urza Tron, Mono Black Control, Mono Blue to Burn decks.

The screenshots are of decks I used to play for quite some time but they are changed so they would fit the actual meta. I used to play Mono Blue for a long time but it slowly became more and more aggressive and in the end I just gave up and added Delver of Secrets as well (be warned this deck is actually expensive for a pauper deck). I used to run more counterspells and less creatures. If you want to try a deck that will make your head ache just play this. When playing this on MODO it reminds me how difficult it is to play cards like Brainstorm or Gush correctly. As for Naya Landfall. It is a deck I used to play at Standard Pauper tournaments but I kept it because it was the only deck that was capable of playing against legacy and extended decks of that time. But then later Kor Skyfisher was banned and even Wild Nacatl at some places. The card (Skyfisher) is simply too good. I still keep the deck and when I feel like it I just beat someone with it (or try to^_^). I wasn't really thinking about tweaking the deck so it would be more competitive (probably it won't be). I like it the way it is (certainly Pyroblast would help). The last deck is UR Strobe deck. I used to play it with Wee Dragonauts at first (that is where the deck originated) but with time the deck changed a lot and actually became tier 1 deck. It was really difficult to keep the one and only creature alive back then. A way better cards were printed. No need of Assault Strobe now or Artful Dodge when there is something like Temur Battle Rage and Apostle's Blessing is also something that extremely helps. Actually all the Phyrexian mana cards are really great. Cyclops is a card that surives majority of bolts except Flame Slash so that is a huuuuge upgrade. The deck can play disruption after sideboarding so the creature might actually survive Hydro/Pyroblast. If you want to attack someone and hit him for over 30 damage...here's your chance.